Kano, the largest city of northern Nigeria and an ancient Sahelian trading centre, sits on a plain in the arid north of the country at around 480 metres above sea level, at approximately 12.00°N, 8.52°E. It has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh) — intense heat and a single short rainy season — with a long, dusty dry season.

The hottest period comes before the rains, from March to May, when highs regularly reach 38–40°C under a fierce sun. The short rainy season then arrives from June to September, bringing higher humidity and violent thunderstorms; August is the wettest month, and the heat eases somewhat under the cloud, though the humidity can make the season uncomfortable.

The cooler dry season, from November to February, brings warm, sunny days around 31–33°C but pleasantly cool nights that can drop to around 12–14°C — chilly by Nigerian standards. It is dominated by the Harmattan, a dry, dust-laden wind off the Sahara that veils the sky in a dense haze and can reduce visibility for weeks.

Kano receives only around 825 mm of rain a year — roughly half of Lagos's total — almost all of it in the short rainy season from June to September, with a strong August peak, while the long dry season from October to May is effectively rainless. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Kano sits at the arid northern end of Nigeria, where the tropical rain belt reaches only briefly each year, giving it just four wet months against seven or eight in the south. Its Harmattan is the fiercest in the country, blanketing the ancient city in Saharan dust, while the sun shines for up to ten hours a day through the long dry season.

To follow any single measurement in Kano more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.